Firefighting foam concentrates are mixtures of foaming agents, solvents and other additives. These concentrates are intended to be mixed with water usually at either a 3% or 6% concentration, the resulting solution is then foamed by mechanical means and the foam is projected onto the surface of a burning liquid.
A particular class of firefighting foam concentrates is known as an aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF or AF.sup.3). AFFF concentrates have the quality of being able to spread an aqueous film on the surface of hydrocarbon liquids, enhancing the speed of extinguishment. This is made possible by the perfluoroalkyl surfactants contained in AFFF. These surfactants produce very low surface tension values in solution (15-20 dynes cm.sup.-1) which permit the solution to spread on the surface of the hydrocarbon liquids.
AFFF foams are not effective on water soluble fuels, such as alcohols and the lower ketones and esters, as the foam is dissolved and destroyed by the fuel. There is a sub-class of AFFF foam concentrates known as alcohol resistant AFFF (ARAFFF or ARAF.sup.3). ARAFFF concentrates contain a water soluble polymer that precipitates on contact with a water soluble fuel providing a protective layer between the fuel and the foam. ARAFFF foams are effective on both hydrocarbons and water soluble fuels.
Typical AFFF concentrates contain one or more perfluoroalkyl surfactants which may be anionic, cationic, nonionic or amphoteric, one or more non-fluorinated surfactants which may be anionic, cationic, amphoteric or nonionic, solvents such as glycols and/or glycol ethers and minor additives such as chelating agents, pH buffers, corrosion inhibitors and the like. Many U.S. patents have disclosed such compositions, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,047,619; 3,257,407; 3,258,423; 3,562,156; 3,621,059; 3,655,555; 3,661,776; 3,677,347; 3,759,981; 3,772,199; 3,789,265; 3,828,085; 3,839,425; 3,849,315; 3,941,708; 3,952,075; 3,957,657; 3,957,658; 3,963,776; 4,038,198; 4,042,522; 4,049,556; 4,060,132; 4,060,489; 4,069,158; 4,090,976; 4,099,574; 4,149,599; 4,203,850; and 4,209,407.
ARAFFF concentrates are essentially the same as AFFF's, only with the addition of a water soluble polymer. These compositions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,489; U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,599 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,032.
A common element in all AFFF and ARAFFF compositions is the perfluoroalkyl surfactant. This type of surfactant represents 40-80% of the cost of the concentrate.
We have unexpectedly discovered that by the use of alkyl polyglycoside surfactants it is possible to reduce the necessary concentrations of the perfluoroalkyl surfactants in AFFF compositions by more than 40% without loss of firefighting performance. Similarly, in ARAFFF compositions, the use of alkyl polyglycoside surfactants has produced an unexpected improvement in firefighting performance on water soluble fuels and has made possible the use of less expensive water soluble polymers. The polymer commonly used in ARAFFF compositions is Kelco K8Al3, an anionic polysaccharide of the formula C.sub.107 H.sub.158 O.sub.190 K.sub.5, produced by the Kelco Division of Merck and Company. This polymer is believed to be a chemically modified xanthan gum and costs approximately seven (7) times the cost of ordinary industrial grade xanthan gum.
Using surfactant systems disclosed in the prior art, it has been impossible to attain satisfactory ARAFFF performance on water soluble fuels with industrial grade xanthan gum without using so high a concentration of the gum that the composition become unacceptably viscous. However, we have discovered that by the inclusion of alkyl polyglycosides as surfactants, ARAFFF compositions using ordinary industrial grade xanthan gum will perform as well as or better than the ARAFFF compositions made with Kelco K8Al3 and the surfactant systems disclosed in the past.
Alkyl glycosides and alkyl polyglycosides are known surfactants. A particularly useful class of polyglycosides for purposes of the invention is that marketed by the Horizon Chemical Division of Henkel, Inc. under the tradename "APG".
A typical molecular structure is shown below. ##STR1##
The superior performance of the alkyl polyglycosides in the fire fighting compositions is totally unexpected because of the very low interfacial tension values of alkyl polyglycoside compositions with hydrocarbons. It is normally desirable to use co-surfactant systems with relatively high interfacial tension values to avoid emulsification of fuel in the foam. Exemplary interfacial tension values are set forth below.
TABLE I ______________________________________ Interfacial Tension Surfactant Concentration Mineral Oil ______________________________________ C.sub.12-15 Polyglycoside 0.01% 0.9 dynes/cm C.sub.12 Linear alkane sulfonate 0.01% 7.2 dynes/cm C.sub.12-15.sup.-E0 ether sulfate 0.01% 7.4 dynes/cm C.sub.8-10 Imidazoline dicarboxylate 0.01% 15.8 dynes/cm (mona CCMM-40) ______________________________________
Broadly, the invention comprises, in one embodiment, an AFFF composition firefighting concentrate comprising a perfluoroalkyl surfactant, a solvent and an effective amount of an alkyl polyglycoside. The invention, in another embodiment, broadly comprises a ARAFFF firefighting concentrate composition having a perfluoroalkyl surfactant, a solvent, a water soluble polymer and an effective amount of an alkyl polyglycoside.
The phrase, "an effective amount", means the use of the poly alkylglycoside in an amount such that the composition when used as a firefighting concentrate, meets or exceeds those standards which determine the acceptability of the concentrate for firefighting purposes.